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Hammond claimed this amounted to a bright outlook after almost a decade of austerity as he presented a scaled down statement to the Commons.

Hammond said the UK economy had reached a turning point which would allow him to loosen the purse strings – but not until the annual autumn budget statement in November.

The usually downbeat Chancellor delighted in telling the House of Commons that the 1.5 per cent growth forecast this year was 0.1 per cent higher than previously forecast.

The feeble figure is still more than double the Scottish FiscalCommission’s forecast of just 0.7 per cent in Scotland.

Hammond said debt would fall as a share of GDP next year, which would be the start of “the first sustained fall in debt for 17 years, a turning point in the nation’s recovery from the financial crisis of a decade ago”.

Labour accused him of complacency and said the Tories had presided over the slowest recovery since the 20s, with real wages lower now than they were in 2010 when Labour left office. The independent financial watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, forecast slow growth over the next five years and did not rule out Britain going back into the red as Brexit begins to bite.

The TUC said real wage growth in 2018 is forecast to be just 0.3 per cent and in 2022 wages will still be worth less than before the financial crisis 15 years earlier.

Ian Blackford blamed the Government of a shameful lack of preparation for Brexit (Image: PA)